Superman: Man of Steel, Vol 2: Phantom Pains
by Benjamin J Brown
Summary: AU. Second volume of my Superman fic. Follows on from Justice League united Vol. 1. Six months after the attack on Earth by Darkseid, Clark Kent is considered a hero as Superman. But when circumstances beyond his control cause him to hurt a friend, he retreats to the fortress, only to find it a changed place, with a new artifact; a red crystal. I own nothing.
1. Shock and Fear

Clark sat on his bed, his macbook on his lap. His parents had bought it for him at Christmas, in spite of his protests that it was too expensive. In actuality, it was less about the cost; it was one of the bottom price point macbooks available, he was more concerned that, barring media editing, it was basically useless for anything else. He was _able_ to write on it, but seriously preferred a PC.

As he finished the paragraph he was working on for his article on Bruce Wayne's latest business venture into Metropolis, he heard a crash outside his bedroom door. He looked towards the door, lowering his glasses slightly down the bridge of his nose and using his x-ray vision; Jimmy Olsen, his roommate and co-worker, was throwing a party, as was normal for early twenty-something's on a Saturday night, and someone had just broke a lamp.

Clark quickly scanned the crowd; there were about two dozen people he didn't recognize, and three or four he did, including one; a girl in her very early twenties with shoulder length dyed red hair, in a blue tube top and denim mini-skirt; Lucy Lane. Unfortunately, if she was there, then her sister, the reporter Clark was usually partnered with, Lois, couldn't be too far behind. And when she saw the drunk guy currently pawing all over her sister, there would be hell to pay. Probably in blood.

He saved the file he was working on, shutting down the machine before standing up, dropping it lightly on his bed, walking to his bedroom door and stepping outside. He quickly grabbed one of the beers from the table, drinking half of it, glad that the alcohol couldn't affect him even if he wanted it to, before grabbing the ketchup and squirting a tiny bit on his finger. He sighed as he walked over to Lucy and the drunk guy.

"Hey Lucy, how's it going?" He said with a feigned drunken slur as he reached them.

"Back off, four-eyes," The drunk guy said, pushing Clark slightly "I saw her first."

"Four-eyes?" Clark said, cocking an eyebrow "That some kind of a joke, buddy?"

"Nope, but this is!" The guy said, before swinging for Clark, the blow barely connecting as Clark rolled with the punch, going to the floor, before the guy pulled his hand back in pain "Jesus, you got a metal plate in your jaw? Freak."

"Clark?" Lucy said, panicked "Clark, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Clark said, getting up and putting his finger to his mouth, quickly applying some of the ketchup to his lip "Great, I'm bleeding."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Lucy said, grabbing him by the hand "Where's the bathroom?"

"Lucy, it's fine." Clark said as she began to pull him towards one of the doors "Honestly, I'm fine."

"No, you're not, that guy floored you," She said "you've probably got... A concussion or something."

"Lucy, he's fine." Came an all too familiar voice from behind them, sounding very annoyed "At least, until I get my hands on him."

Clark spun on his heel, facing Lois. He had to tread carefully here; she'd already questioned him on whether or not he was Superman recently, if anything looked too suspicious, she might realize that, since J'onn could shapeshift and had similar basic powers to Clark, he could've _easily_ been the one impersonating Superman at the conference.

"Uhm, Lois, it's not what it looks like..." Clark said, looking for an exit.

"Oh, so you're _not_ being dragged off to a bathroom by my little sister?" Lois asked "I thought you Kansas boys had all those 'home-grown values' and crap like that."

"Lo, it's fine, there was an ass hitting on me, Clark stepped in and he got punched for it." Lucy said "We were just going to clean him up."

"Really?" Lois said, crossing her arms over her chest "So Smallville actually had a fight?"

"No, he got punched." Lucy said, before Clark could get a word in "Can you just admit you got something wrong for once?"

"Not in front of him." Lois hissed "I'll never live it down at work."

Clark had to suppress a chuckle. Lois knew she was wrong. She just wanted to save face in front of Clark for the sake of work. He paused for a second before his phone started ringing. He pulled the iPhone 3GS from his pocket, not really looking as he answered.

"Hello?" He said as he put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, is that Clark Kent?" Came the voice of a woman from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it is." Clark said "May I ask to whom I'm speaking?"

"This is Chloe Sullivan over at Smallville General Hospital." The woman replied "Mr. Kent, it's your father. I'm afraid there's been an accident. He's in a coma."

"Dad..." Clark said to himself quietly, before saying "I'll be right there."

He didn't wait for a reply before hanging up the phone, putting it in his pocket as he began making his way to the door, only for Lois to bar it.

"Hold it, Smallville." Lois said, looking slightly awkward "Look, I, uhm..."

"Not now, Lois." Clark said, seeing she was about to make a comment "Please. I've got to go."

"Okay." Lois said, hesitating before saying "Are you okay, Smallville?"

"No, but it's fine." Clark said, side-stepping her and making for the door "I know you don't like listening to people's problems when there isn't a story."

He didn't give her a chance to answer before opening the door and stepping outside. He paused for a moment, before super speeding downstairs, not noticing Lois open the door behind him as he did.

...

Lex Luthor sat in his office, a young, slim man with sandy blonde hair in a black blazer, black jeans and an unironed blue shirt stood in front of him. The man was there to be interviewed for a position and, simply put, had currently failed to impress. His resume was bog standard at best, and Lex preferred all Luthorcorp employees to be the best.

"So, Mr..." Lex said, looking at the resume in front of him "Mr. Jones, what do you feel you can bring to Luthorcorp?"

"Honestly?" Jones replied, his voice exhibiting an accent akin to what you'd expect from New York's Bronx "I know I'm not the best, Mr. Luthor, not like the rest of your employees, but I'm eager to learn. I've been to college, I studied chemistry, if you give me a chance, maybe I could help you in that area?"

"Hmm..." Lex said "Chemistry... How are you with pharmacology?"

"Pharmacology?" Jones asked "I've done _some_ studying, not a lot..."

"Well, I'm willing to give you a chance, Mr. Jones." Lex replied "You start Monday."

"Really?" Jones said, standing up as Lex did, shaking his hand enthusiastically "Thank you, Mr. Luthor, I promise, you won't regret this!"

"I'm sure I won't, Mr. Jones." Lex said, a small smile forming on his face "I'd appreciate it if you could send my assistant in on your way out."

"Of course, thank you." Jones said rapidly, quickly walking out, before a young woman in her mid-twenties with a tanned complexion and short, brown hair in a grey business suit and white blouse with black heels and tights walked into the office.

"You wanted to see me, Lex?" His assistant asked him, putting her hands behind her back, emphasising her figure.

"Yes, Mercy." Lex said "Have Mr. Jones, the man who just left, put on the Sierra project."

"Of course." Mercy said "Is that all?"

"No." Lex said "I think the safety precautions on Sierra are too intense. Have them relaxed a little."

"How much is a little?" Mercy asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Enough that we get to those human trials that seem to be so difficult to have approved under guidelines." Lex said with a grin "I want to see what these energy absorbing chemicals do when introduced to a Human being."

...

Clark walked into the hospital room he'd been directed to upon arrival. His mother was asleep in the chair beside the bed. In the bed, hooked up to several machines, tubes sticking out left, right and centre, was the unconscious form of his father.

Clark picked up the chart at the end of the bed, flipping through it. According to what he was reading, the coma occurred following a work unit collapsing on him. There were also notes of maintaining his heart medication. Clark was shocked; his parents hadn't mentioned anything about the medication to him. Probably trying to avoid worrying him. They seemed to forget he quite literally had had the weight of a world on his shoulders recently. Or maybe that was exactly why they didn't want to worry him.

He put the clipboard back, before sitting in the other chair in the room. He pulled his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. He was slightly tired, he could admit that; following the incident with Darkseid, he'd been pushing himself harder than usual, and had pushed himself even harder in an attempt to get back to Smallville quicker. It was taking it's toll on him.

He quickly put his glasses back on as he heard the latch on the door, a second before the door opened, Clark's mother walking in followed by a man around Clark's age, with short, dirty blonde hair and a goatee, a pair of wire frame glasses perched on his nose. The man was wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and a black tie, a U.S. flag pin on his lapel.

"What's the Kansas state senator doing here?" Clark asked, standing up and shaking the man's hand "It's been a long time, Pete."

"Yes it has, Clark." Pete replied, releasing Clark's hand and grabbing his own wrist, rolling it slightly "Still got a grip like a vice then. I saw your work in Metropolis. Flying now, are we?"

"Yeah, that one's still fairly new." Clark replied, turning to his mother "How's dad?"

"The Doctor's are fighting over what's the best course of action." She replied "With his heart, and the cancer, they-"

"Cancer?" Clark interjected, shocked "No one told me about any cancer."

"Lung cancer. I wanted to tell you, but he didn't want to worry you. He thought you had enough on your plate." Martha said, pulling Clark into a tight embrace "You might be a man of steel, but in his eyes, you're still our little boy."

Clark turned to look at the unconscious form of his father, a distressed look appearing on his face. He had all that technology up in the Fortress. If he hadn't been so busy flying around as Superman, maybe he could've caught this before, done something about it.

As he stood thinking about it, one of the machines began beeping rapidly. Jonathan's unconscious body began convulsing. Clark quickly moved to the bed, beginning to hold Jonathan still. He quickly ran his x-ray vision over his father; his heart was beating rapidly. A number of nurses and a pair of doctors rushed into the room, the nurses ushering Clark, Martha and Pete out of the room. Clark began to look through the closed curtains using his x-ray vision, listening to the events in the room.

"He's going into cardiac arrest. Get me the defibrillator!" One of the doctors said, the device being wheeled over, the man picking up the paddles "Charging to 200. Clear!"

Jonathan's body jolted as the paddles were put to his chest, the electric current applied. Clark used his x-ray vision, looking at his father's heart; it had stopped. He watched as the doctor tried the defibrillator a few more times.

"I'm calling it." The doctor said "Time of death, 8: 28 PM."

Clark stopped looking through the wall immediately, clamping his eyes shut as he felt a surge of emotions crash over him; anger, despair, sadness, rage and a whole other list of emotions he didn't care to think about. He didn't even listen as the doctor came out and told him and Martha about his father. Didn't pay attention to what was going on.

It was only when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and he shrugged it off, hard, that he came back to reality. He turned, seeing Pete slumped against the wall, looking up at Clark, a look of shock on his face. There was something else there, though. Something Clark had only seen once before on his friend's face. Fear. Pete was afraid of him. Afraid like he had been the day he'd found out what Clark could do, when Clark had caught that car that was flying through the air at him.

"Pete, I'm sorry." Clark said, looking between Pete and his mother, hoping they'd say something, both of them just looking at him shocked "I'm sorry."

With that, he ran out at super speed. As he reached the outside of the hospital, he leapt up into the air, taking flight. He had to get away. Somewhere he couldn't hurt anyone.


	2. Red Kryptonite?

Clark touched down in the Fortress of Solitude; it was darker than usual. After a moment, it lit up it's usual white before beginning to flash red.

"Danger... Corrupted... Withdraw... Fortress..." Came the voice of Jor-El, before going silent, the fortress turning black again.

"Re-initialising." Came a different voice, calm and mechanical, totally without feeling, the Fortress lighting up first an eerie green and then it's usual brilliant white light "Back up systems online."

"Who is this?" Clark asked "Who am I talking to?"

"I am the Fortress' back up AI, the Brain InterActive Construct." Came the voice "You may call me BrainIAC."

"What happened to Jor-El?" Clark asked "Why has the Fortress been inactive for the last six months?"

"Darkseid uploaded a virus." BrainIAC replied "It erased your father's consciousness, Kal-El. I have been attempting to repair the damage."

"Can you answer the same questions as Jor-El?" Clark said "Can you give me the same answers?"

"I am programmed with the sum knowledge of the 27 known galaxies. In short, my knowledge exceeds that of the Jor-El construct." BrainIAC said "What is it you require, Kal-El?"

"My powers." Clark said "I need a way to curb them, to help me keep them under control while distressed."

"Such a device exists within my database." BrainIAC said "However, I cannot construct it in this form."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked "Is there another form of the Fortress?"

"No, Kal-El." BrainIAC said "However, I have drone bodies I can use to complete the work. With your permission?"

"Of course." Clark replied, watching as a crystalline structure came out of the floor.

The front of the structure opened, revealing a mechanoid about Clark's height. It's body was primarily purple, with what looked like silver gauntlets and boots, sharp claw like appendages on the feet, spike like objects on each forearm. Over the entire body were glowing white circles. The head and neck of the figure were one continuous mass, beginning in the same silver as the gauntlets, with an appearance like a neck guard, a green, skull like head on top. The eyes glowed red, with three glowing white circles in an upside down triangle formation on the forehead, black lines joining the two top circles to the bottom one.

"Transfer complete." The mech said "I shall begin work immediately. Please, retire to your quarters, Kal-El. I shall alert you when I am done."

"Okay..." Clark said, slightly unsure, before turning and walking out of the command chamber, leaving BrainIAC to begin it's work.

...

Rudy Jones stood in the lab he'd been assigned to, running inventory. He was grateful to Mr. Luthor for giving him the opportunity to take the job; most people wouldn't give an ex-con a shot with any job that actually had some kind of prospects. This was an opportunity to make something of himself, and to prove to his ex-wife and his kids he wasn't just some bum. That he was better than her new husband, Raymond Jensen. Then he'd win her back.

He opened one of the containers, taking note of the purple fluid inside, before closing the lid again. He wasn't sure why he hadn't been given a hazmat suit, since all the material was marked bio-hazard. Still, Luthorcorp was a massive conglomerate, no doubt they had countless safeguards in place on the project to ensure nothing bad happened to him.

He opened the next container, noting the same liquid. As he did, he dropped his pen, the metal object falling to the floor. He bent down to pick it up, not noticing how close his foot was to the container, until his foot hit the metal container, knocking it over, the fluid pouring out all over Rudy, before he blacked out.

...

Clark walked into the central chamber of the fortress, wearing a black version of his usual costume, his symbol being cast on the chest in a dull grey, the cape missing from the ensemble; it was a traditional Kryptonian outfit that his people had worn as the base layer of their uniforms, under the uniform of their profession they were assigned. Clark was the last son of Krypton, rocketed away as a baby; he had no chosen profession. He'd updated his costume to the red and blue version of this uniform he wore as his costume to honour his people, but he wasn't going to wear the scientist's uniform of his father, or the militia uniform of his mother. As far as the fortress was concerned, he was Kal-El, but as far as he was concerned, he was Clark Kent. Superman was just the happy middle ground.

"Work is complete." BrainIAC said as Clark approached the podium the mech stood on, the mech holding out what looked like a silver ring with a red band made of crystal around it "This ring is powered by red Kryptonite. It will decrease your powers but not remove them."

"A Kryptonite ring?" Clark asked "This isn't going to kill me?"

"No, that is the effect of green Kryptonite." BrainIAC replied "There are many varieties, but the only ones that will effect you are green, red and gold."

"Gold?" Clark asked "What does gold do?"

"Removes your abilities." BrainIAC said "Permanently."

"So, stay away from gold K, got it." Clark said, taking the ring from BrainIAC "Here goes."

Clark slipped the ring on, the veins in his hand flashing red momentarily, the energy going up his arm and through his body. He looked at BrainIAC cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't feel any different." Clark said.

"You will." BrainIAC replied "Give it time."

"It had better work." Clark said, scowling "Or I'll dismantle you for scrap."

Clark turned and walked away, unsure where his comment had come from. He wasn't one for threats; he was the guy who avoided conflict, who tried to protect things, all things. Even if BrainIAC was an AI, he was sentient, and Clark had just threatened to take him apart. Clark shrugged it off; it had been a long day, stress was probably just getting to him. As he reached his room, his Justice League comm. device beeped.

"What's up?" Clark asked.

"There's a problem in Star City." Came the voice of Bart Allen AKA the Flash "We need you down there. Something about a giant talking monkey?"

"On it." Clark said, spinning on the spot and changing into his costume "Give me five minutes to get there."

"Okay, see you there." Bart replied "Diana's en route as well."

Clark didn't bother replying, instead shooting into the sky, taking out part of the top of the fortress, the crystals beginning the slow process of reforming themselves.

...

Oliver Queen stood on top of one of the apartment blocks he owned, looking down on the street below. A giant ape was running amok, carrying some form of ray gun and blasting people. Ollie couldn't say he was used to such things, but hey, this was a day and age where Metropolis had a man of steel and Gotham had a man dressed as a giant bat fighting killer clowns.

Ollie pushed his green domino mask onto his face, pulling up his green hood from the skin tight green leather vest top. The green and black leather leggings with black combat boots he wore helped him maintain his stability in the breeze, while the black gloves he wore protected him from inadvertently hurting himself with one of his own arrows he carried on his back.

Ollie pulled an arrow from his quiver with a line attached to it, firing down at the ape below. He put his bow onto the line, using the wheels on it to absail down, kicking the ape in the chest, being grabbed and thrown back towards the building in response. As he prepared to hit the wall, instead he felt himself rapidly decelerate. He looked up, seeing he'd been caught by a woman in a red and black suit with silver wrist guards, a gold tiara and a golden eagle motif. Wonder Woman.

"Where have you been all my life?" Ollie quipped, Wonder Woman dropping him in response "Was it something I said."

"Back off, rookie." Said a man in a red and yellow costume with several lightning bolts on it, the Flash, as he sped up next to Ollie and Wonder Woman "Let the pros handle this."

Ollie watched as the Flash sped up to the ape, throwing several punches at high speed before blurring back before the ape had a chance to hit back. A second later, Wonder Woman threw her lasso at the ape, tying it up before it grabbed the lasso, yanking it from her grip.

"Pathetic Humans." The ape spoke in a deep, gravelly voice "You will all bow before Grodd!"

In response to Grodd's comment, he was hit square in the chest by a red and blue blur flying at high speed. Ollie looked at the ape's assailant; Superman.

...

"Stand down!" Clark yelled, seeing both Diana and Bart getting ready to back him up "This monkey's mine!"

Clark flew at the ape at super speed again, slamming into it again, this time seizing it's blaster from it, crushing the device in his hand. The ape grabbed Clark by the throat, lifting him up in the air before tossing him back, sending him flying through three buildings. Clark flew back into the fight, firing a barrage of heat vision in front of him, setting the ground leading up to the ape ablaze, before setting the ape itself ablaze, the creature screaming in agony.

"Miserable creature!" The ape yelled "You'll pay for that."

"No." Clark said "You will."

Clark flew up to the ape, grabbing it by the throat before shooting up into the sky, through the upper atmosphere and into orbit. He looked into the apes eyes and smirked menacingly before hurling it back down with all his might, watching the creature burn as it passed through the atmosphere.

Clark slowly descended, landing between Diana and Bart, who both looked at him, shocked.

"It's dealt with." Clark said "Next time you call, make sure it's something big. Metropolis is my priority. Not this shit hole."

Before they could respond, he shot into the air, beginning to fly back to the fortress, stopping just above it and letting himself fall. Something was seriously wrong with him.

...

Rudy slowly came too in the lab. He looked around; everything had small auras around it, like he was seeing some kind of radiation around it. He looked in the mirror; his clothes were shredded, his hair was gone. His eyes were a deep, sickening yellow while his skin was the same purple as the liquid. His teeth were all razor sharp, like a leeches. He looked at his hands; they were clawed now, with suckers on the palms, each sucker having tiny teeth like a leeches all around it.

He didn't know what had happened to him. He just knew it was terrifying, and that he felt something.

Hunger.

...

Clark stormed into the fortress' main chamber, smashing crystals left, right and centre as he walked through. When he reached BrainIAC, he lifted the mech by the throat, being greeted by a glow of green energy from it, feeling himself weaken as he collapsed to the ground.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Clark asked "Why did I do that to that ape?"

"You're maturing, Kal-El." BrainIAC replied "It seems you are to be a warrior, hence your aggression. You require the tutelage of another Kryptonian warrior to help you learn to control it."

"Shame they're all dead!" Clark yelled.

"Not all. A small group of them took refuge in the prison known as the Phantom Zone, to escape the cataclysm on Krypton." BrainIAC said "Give me a week, and you will be able to bring one out via a Phantom Zone projector. A great leader. In the meantime, remove your ring. It appears to be accelerating the process."

"Fine." Clark said, removing the ring and crushing it in his hand, feeling the anger subsiding "So, who is this great leader?"

"He was a friend of Jor-El's." BrainIAC said "His name is General Zod."


End file.
